1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of tracking satellite radio signals for Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Positioning systems currently in service utilizing artificial satellites include a so-called Global Positioning System (GPS). This positioning system, as the name implies, will cover the entire surface of the globe by a total of 24 geodetic satellites when all of them are operational on six orbits, about 20,200 km above the Earth, which will accommodate four geodetic satellites each. Each geodetic satellite transmits a GPS signal containing navigation data for reckoning to the Earth using a spread-spectrum system. The reckoning is carried out on the ground, on the sea as well as in the air by receiving GPS signals from a plurality of geodetic satellites, for example, by receiving GPS signals from three geodetic satellites for two-dimensional positioning and those from four of them for three-dimensional positioning. In this way, based on the navigation data contained in the GPS signal from each geodetic satellite, position information on the receiving point such as a latitude, longitude and altitude thereof can be reckoned in realtime.
This GPS system was originally developed for U.S. military use, however a part of the GPS signal (C/A code) has been made available for civil applications. Therefore, it is possible to build navigation systems for automobiles, ships and aircraft by using the GPS signal.
The above GPS system, however, has a drawback. Since the GPS satellites are not geostationary satellites, the frequency of the GPS signal may be shifted due to the Doppler effect when received by a GPS receiver. Thus, the GPS receiver must start receiving of the spread-spectrum signal from the satellite by locking a phase-locked loop (PLL) circuit of the receiver to a frequency of the GPS signal which may be shifted by the Doppler effect. Upon locking of the PLL circuit, the spread-spectrum signal is despread and demodulated to receive the GPS signal. For this reason, it is theoretically impossible to commence the receiving of the satellite signals immediately even when the signals have already arrived at the GPS receiver.
When the GPS system is employed for vehicle navigation systems, the GPS receiver cannot discriminate between a situation wherein the GPS signal is not received due to the PLL circuit remaining unlocked or the GPS signal failing to be despread under the presence of the satellite signal and a situation wherein the GPS signal is not received because the signal itself is not reaching the receiver as when the vehicle is in a tunnel. Therefore no appropriate steps can be taken on the part of the GPS receiver when the vehicle is in a tunnel where no satellite signals are received. This means that after the vehicle has passed through the tunnel, it takes time for the GPS receiver to reestablish the contact with the satellite, resulting in no reckoning being performed for certain period of time and thus causing a problem for the driver.
In case of adopting the GPS system in a vehicle-mounted navigation equipment, in view of balancing the reckoning accuracy and the production cost, a GPS receiver having a small channel capacity of covering only one or two channels is utilized and thereby a time-division multiple-access system is employed to allow the GPS receiver to receive signals from a plurality of GPS satellites in a sequential manner with a single channel. However, in such a system, it takes considerable time for the GPS receiver to reestablish the contact with the satellite.
It is an object of the invention to eliminate the aforesaid problems and to provide a satellite signal tracking method for GPS receivers using a time-division multiple-access system, which enables the GPS receiver to pick up satellite signals as soon as the signal reception is recovered to the normal condition after the reception of the satellite signals has been lost, for example, within a tunnel and the like.